Short-game guru and best-selling author Dave Pelz has coached
no fewer than nine major champions and helped movie stars and presidents improve
their skills from within wedge range. His down-to-earth principles
can similarly help you to save shots and enjoy better golf

‘IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE ’

That may be a glib throwaway one-liner...but it’s
true. When it comes to improving all aspects of
the short-game, we are dealing in relatively simple
issues of technique and basic repetition to
hone a skill – not nuclear physics!

Trust me on this. In a former life I was a NASA
scientist with a fascination for sending rockets into
the upper atmospheres of the earth. Then one
day I realised I was a golfer who loved physics,
rather than a physicist who loved golf. I gave up
my day job and have dedicated the last 35 years
of my career to intensive study of the short game.
Utilising my experience in data collection and
analysis, I have studied performance data from
thousands of golfers – amateurs and pros alike –
and used that information to identify the common
denominators to success.

The first of the Dave Pelz Short Game
Schools opened in 1982 and I am delighted to
say that the most recent has now opened in the
UK, at The Grove in Hertfordshire (we also have
a facility at Killeen Castle in Ireland). What I love
most about these schools is the fact that while
the majority of amateur golfers can never hope to
strike the ball like a tour player, there’s no reason
why they cannot develop the skills necessary to
have a professional short game. And that’s
exactly what we aim to deliver.

Happily I haven’t given up altogether on the
extra terrestrial. My most celebrated student, Phil
Mickleson, is so intrigued by the solar system that
we spend hours talking about it – and in return I
get to pick his brains to learn about the thoughts
and feelings one of golf’s genius short-game
exponents relies on around the green. It’s been a
successful partnership; when Phil sought out my
help in 2003 he was 0-for-43 in the majors. He
asked me straight: “If I hire you and do as you
say, can you help me shave a quarter of a stroke
per round in major championships?’ Confident in
my years of research, I told him what I believe is
true to this day: there isn’t a golfer on the planet
who couldn’t save at least one shot a round by
using my ideas.

People think of Phil as this phenomenally natural
talent, which he obviously is. But what tends
to get overlooked is the fact that he is also one of
the hardest workers in golf. Away from a tournament
he practises these skill sets more than you
can imagine – and I’ve been lucky enough to be
around him, to watch and to learn from his artistry.
When we discuss the nuances to a specific technique,
we get to a better understanding of how
golfers can go out and do things better. So let me
share with you a crash course of ‘must-have’ elements
that I know can improve the key aspects
your short-game – basic chipping, pitching and
putting – the very next time you play.

BASIC CHIPPING?
GET THE BALL
WELL BACK...

The No.1 fault that I see among everyday
amateurs relates to the ball position – the
most fundamental of set-up elements.
While the majority of regular golfers are
aware of the need to play the ball back in
the stance, very few play it far enough back
to be truly effective in terms of honing a
good chipping technique.

(Left) X-out: this is where the majority of
amateurs play the ball for a regular chip
shot – but it’s too far forward in relation to
the swing arc. For consistency of strike,
you want to turn in your feet to the target
and play the ball off your right heel.

(Right) Flaring out your toes
adds to that sense of
standing open to your
target line, which gives
you a good perspective
of the shot as you play it

The inset photo above illustrates a typical
ball position for a club player; I want to
see it significantly further back than this.
Look at the main image here. With both of
my feet turned in towards the target, this is
where I want to see the ball position – and
adjusting your set-up accordingly will immediately
help you to play these key scoring
shots consistently.

Standing slightly open to the target, and
with your feet comfortably close together,
simply flare your toes to the left to assume
the position you see here. Now, you want
the ball to be played outside of the right foot
as you settle into posture. Why? Because
here you cannot possibly hit the shot fat.
Catching the ball a little too cleanly is OK.
You can live with that. Hitting the shot fat is
the worst of all sins, and it occurs as a result
of wanting to scoop the ball into the air.

That is simply not allowed to happen
when you play the ball just to the outside of
your right ankle. The bottom of the arc is
way forward in relation to the ball, and so
you catch it as the club is making its
descent. Nipping the ball before just bruising
the turf gives you the strike that enables
you to play these shots with control.

FOR CONSISTENCY, STROKE IS ALL ABOUT THE ARMS AND SHOULDERS

Once you are comfortable with the set-up position,
feet and toes angled to the target, as per my example,
this is a technique you can quickly apply to just
about every club in the bag. And the beauty of it is,
the set-up positively encourages you to make a
sound stroke. With the ball back and your body
angled to the left of the target, the key is to develop a
technique in which the arms and shoulders do all the
work, while the hands and wrists are essentially passive.

The set-up position determines the nature of
impact, and in no time at all you will enjoy hitting
down on the back of the ball, catching it cleanly
before just bruising the turf, and playing a shot you
can control.

Down the grip for
the ultimate control

There’s a lot of analysis on TV when we see tour
players reach for a sand iron and produce all sorts of
magic, spinning the ball to stop it dramatically next to
the cup. But remember, these guys are playing every
day of the week and have exceptional feel and control.
They use loft to negotiate ridges and terraces in
the green, playing what is actually a high-tariff shot to
get the ball close. You do not have the luxury of time
to practice like they do. The higher your handicap,
the faster you need the ball on the green, running
like a putt. So go out and experiment with a span of
clubs, all the way from a 6-iron to sand wedge, and
enjoy the versatility of this key skill.

ACCELERATION IS THE KEY TO A SOLID STRIKE AND BETTER DISTANCE CONTROL

One of the interesting things my research has
showed up is that all golfers – whether amateurs or
pros – rarely miss the green long. In fact, only 5% of
all approach shots go past the target. 95% are short.
So in preparing the basis of my teaching strategy on
the short game I focus on exactly this type of shot, a
basic pitching up the green towards the hole.

“I am a big believer in using a
relatively narrow stance for chipping
and pitching as this encourages a
player to use his lower body to
maintain the rhythm of his swing –
which also explains why I like to
see a slightly wider stance in
putting, where you
want a stable base.”Here’s another fascinating stat: the most frequent
pitch shot that is required is one that lands the ball a
distance of 14 yards – I’ve measured it. The pros
might miss it here with a 4-iron, you may come up
short with a wedge. But if you determine to go out
and practise to become great at one yardage, make it
this one: landing the ball 14 yards.

Most amateurs never practice this. Instead they practice
little chip shots around the green and then move
back to 40-, 50- and 60-yard wedge shots. But the numbers
do not lie. If you can get up and down from this key
distance you will save shots and shoot lower scores.

When you practise,
make a determined
effort to achieve
this fully hinged,
shaft parallel
position...

...and then feel the
back of the ball as
you release the
right hand and
swing to a finish

Moving on to the technique itself, the key in all
aspects of the short game is that you accelerate
smoothly through impact. The problem most amateurs
have to deal with is that they typically make too long a
backswing for a given shot and decelerate into the
ball. The key lesson here, focusing first of all on this 14
yard landing distance, is that you learn to build sound
technique with a shorter backswing and accelerate
through. Any tendency to decelerate will compromise
the strike – and your control of the trajectory. So when
you next go out to practise, I want you to work on this
drill, limiting yourself to a backswing that sees the clubhaft
get to parallel (main image) before accelerating
smoothly into the ball and on to a finish in which the
shaft is working towards the vertical (far right).

Smooth
acceleration
enables you to
make a solid
contact – vital for
distance control

Aim to finish with
the club shaft
working up to the
vertical

For me, using a 54 degree wedge, the ratio of backswing
to through-swing you see illustrated above produces
a shot that carries 14 yards. I practice this all
the time to maintain that accuracy with the 54 degree
wedge, and it’s the club I then reach for out on the
course. You have to go out and experiment to find the
club and the tempo that gives you this 14 yard stock
shot. I would suggest taking all of your wedges and
hitting shots with this controlled swing to better understand
the flight and the subsequent roll out you
achieve. That is valuable information.

As you work further away from the hole, I want you
then to keep in mind this concept of making a controlled,
relatively short backswing and accelerating to a
longer, balanced finish. Those are characteristics you
see in all great wedge players. It’s a principle of control
that enables you to accelerate through the ball with
commitment in the knowledge you have the distance
‘dialled in’ matching that club with that swing. The ball
position I advocate in the wedge game is such that the
centre of your swing is always beyond the ball – and, as
such, the maximum velocity point is after impact, too.

This is the secret to more solid and consistent ball striking:
you strike the ball as you are accelerating to your
maximum velocity point. Now, in driving, that’s instinctive.
But as I mentioned a little earlier, in chipping and
pitching there is a tendency to make a long backswing
and decelerate through the ball. Which is why you need
to go out and think about this as you practice.
More specifics on the ball position and the way you
can manipulate the clubface angle to play different
shots overleaf.

UNDERSTANDING
BALL POSITION
FOR BETTER
PITCHING TECHNIQUE

And so a little more detail on finding the right
ball position, which is fundamental to developing
a solid pitching technique. The ball has to
be in the right place – and the key is that you
adjust ball position to suit good technique. Not
the other way around.

Just as we observe in chipping, the tendency
for most amateurs is to play the ball too far
forward in their stance for a regular pitch shot.
I guess there’s an element of wanting to lift
the ball into the air, even with the most lofted
clubs in the bag. But there is absolutely no
need to do that – and you will enjoy much better
ball striking if you follow this simple routine
to identifying the right ball position.

Start with a comfortable
stance, feet square to the
target line, and place a ball
directly in the middle of your
heels...
...now, simply turn your left
foot by about 40 degrees,
flare it out towards the target.
From this angle, it appears the
ball has moved – that’s an illusion.
It is consistent with its
original position in relation to
the left heel, and this is the
stance and ball position I
advise in pitching

Take a look at the accompanying images. In the first frame I have the ball in the
middle of my feet, a ‘square’ stance, the ball
in line with the clubshaft that I have placed
centrally between my heels. From here, all I
have done is flared out my left foot to create
the situation you see in frame 2. I have not
moved my body at all, and yet the ball now
appears to have moved back in my stance.

This is an illusion. It has not moved an inch
in relation to the left foot. It is centred, just as
it was in frame 1. And this is exactly where I
want you to play the ball for all pitch shots.
Here, the bottom of the swing arc is
ahead of the ball, as I’m indicating with my
finger in the first of the photographs below. If
I want to play a higher shot I simply open the
clubface, which increases the effective loft
but also produces a shot that will tend to drift
from left to right – so you have to aim a little
left of your target to compensate. (Similarly, if
you want to play a lower, running shot, you
might toe-in the face a little, which would
have the effect of lowering trajectory and
producing right to-left draw spin.)

(Left) Low point of the swing
is an inch or so beyond the ball

(Centre) Regular set up with a neutral (square) clubface will
give you the desired ball-then-turf strike for control

(Right) To play a higher shot, open the clubface, and then adjust your
alignment (i.e. aim a little left) to compensate for left-to-right spin

If you are one of those golfers guilty of playing
the ball too far forward, and are prone to
hitting these shots fat, go out and give this a
try. I promise that if you spend 30 minutes hitting
wedge shots with your feet and ball sharing
this relationship you will find that you strike
down and through the ball, and enjoy a terrific
sense of control over trajectory and spin.

Remember my advice on building up
momentum from a shorter backswing... A
comfortable half- to three-quarter swing with
a wedge allows you to swing freely, accelerating
the clubhead through impact all the
way to a controlled and balanced finish

Swinging from half- to full is actually a wonderful
exercise to improve your rhythm on all
of your iron shots, but especially beneficial in
the arena of wedge play. Build it all up gradually
until you reach your ‘best’ distance with
each of your wedges, which I would suggest
would coincide with this compact and easy
swing on either side of the ball

Circular red lines on the ‘O-Ball’
leave you in no doubt as to what square
face alignment looks like at the set up –
and provide instant visual feedback as
to the quality of the strike as soon as it
is set in motion

INSTANT
FEEDBACK
KEEPS YOUR
STROKE – AND
MINDSET –
POSITIVE

There are three critical elements you
have to master to become a good putter:
green reading, starting lines and
speed control. The first of those skills
boils down to experience – there’s an
art to reading the line of a putt that you
only develop over time. But there is a
lot you can do to improve your ability
to start the ball on your chosen line
and control the speed of the roll (and
these are the key areas tour players
spend most of their time on).

Face angle at impact is the key to
accuracy and consistency. In other
words, you need to recognise a
square putter face at address and
develop a stroke that returns that
square face to the ball at impact.

This is an area of research that has
always fascinated me, and the ‘O-Ball’
is one in a long line of putting aids that
I have developed to help a golfer perfect
his alignment and return the putter-
face squarely at impact.

Quite simply,
the O-Ball provides the most valuable
information you could wish for – instant feedback as to the quality of
your putting stroke.

“The 3 foot circle drill
remains by far and away
the most effective for
anyone wanting to become
a better putter from this
critical distance. Place the
balls around a hole and if
you have fear in your
heart, or miss, you start
over again. This is the drill
Phil Mickelson does all the
time. Make 100 in a row.
Miss, start over.”Remember, almost half of all shots
in golf are putts – and of those over
half are from inside 6 feet.

This is the
tour players’ bread and butter.

And
whether you use an O-Ball or simply
use a marker pen to create a line on
your ball, repeatedly setting up to a
straight four-foot putt, recognising the
square alignment of the face, and seeing
that line roll end over end on its
way into the hole is a massive boost
for your confidence.

Create a posture that allows your
shoulders to rock freely – the fulcrum
point of a repeating, prendulum stroke

Good posture is vital. My advice is
to create the angle from the hips that
allows the arms to hang freely so they
swing with your hands vertically below
the shoulders. With knees flexed, the
weight balanced on the balls of the
feet, the body ‘flow lines’ (i.e. the lines
of the feet, knees, hips and shoulders)
should all run parallel to the aimline,
the eyes directly above it.
Now you’re ready to knock ‘em in.

Reproduced with kind permission of Golf International Magazine

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